Apparently it's a tradition, at least among the more plebeian of we sailors, to name our autopilots. Yes, more often than not they get stuck with Otto. I hadn't intended to name mine. I've never named my cars, ...I even attempted not to name a dog once. That's a different story. But then, we came across a name with a story of its own and it seemed so apt I adopted it for the WH autopilot I'd installed in Eagle Harbor, ...and then in Shilshole, ...and THEN in Anacortes. You'll have to go back into my old blog entries for THAT story.

Anyway, we were a day or two south out of Neah Bay sharing anecdotes with each other, maintaining the flow of seagoing entertainment as best we could through long days together in Mabrouka's cockpit. As the tales grew fewer and further between, they also got bawdier. One of the crew, perhaps the least likely depending on your own experience, had begun to share some of his exploits with women.

He'd struck up a whirlwind relationship with a woman from Laguna Beach. To his shame, he couldn't remember her name, but the story he told of a long night in bed deserves memorialization as it involved many, MANY orgasms. Twenty or twenty five, it was claimed, each one us audible as the next, "Oooh. Ohh. Oooh, oh, OH!"

Now, this was related over the background music of the autopilot steering back and forth through the northwest swell that was following us down the Washington coast. The hydraulic motor and steering ram are right under Mabrouka's pilot seat and can been annoyingly audible, especially when the engine's not running. It goes something like this, "Grmmm. Grmm. Grrrmmmmm, GRM!" Okay, not the same soundtrack as The Lady in Bed, but close enough for us to make the association.

With no memory of an actual name from the anonymous storyteller to use, we decided the mystery woman would be given the name, Laguna, after her home town, and named the autopilot after her. That seemed too obscure to me, so I added a first name. Mona.

So, my autopilot's name is Mona Laguna. Isn't that more interesting than Otto? ...and it has a story that goes with it, too! Maybe if we talk in person, I'll let you know whose story it was.